


Next

by longituddeonda



Series: 1k tumblr follower drabble and ficlet event [2]
Category: Prospect (2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, lonely people in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23608051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longituddeonda/pseuds/longituddeonda
Summary: opheliaelysia on tumblr requested the prompts "why are you lying to me?" & “holding everything in doesn’t help, you know.”
Relationships: Ezra (Prospect)/Reader
Series: 1k tumblr follower drabble and ficlet event [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1699279
Kudos: 14





	Next

“We’re almost done with our job here,” you whisper into the dark tent. You’re not sure if Ezra is even still awake.

“There still remains a number of cycles in which there is work here.” His voice rises up on the cot beside you.

You frown in the dark.

“Do you have plans for what’s next, Ezra?”

“I do.” It’s uncharacteristically short for him and you want to write it off given the time but something doesn’t sit right.

“You know I have plans, right? Got a job on a cargo ship.”

“I am aware. You spoke with great pride at the obtention of said post,” he says.

“And when this is all over, where are you going?”

He doesn’t respond and the darkness seems to grow, oozing over you and Ezra’s bodies. It’s quiet. That’s the worst part of the tent you’re in. They’re designed to be soundproof and now all you can hear is the even breathing of Ezra and the occasional shifting of a blanket.

He clears his throat. “I intend to transfer to the planet of Calfa to mine Iplite Crystals.”

You shoot upright, flicking on the light that sits next to your bed.

“Why the hell are you lying about this, Ezra?” You can’t even look him in the eye with the light on. You reach up a hand to press the point between your eyes that usually helps you calm down.

“I do not follow your accusation,” he says, but you can tell by the spacing between the words and the lack of intonation that he knows you have him.

You inhale sharply through your teeth and exhale with your eyes squeezed shut, willing yourself to calm down about this. There’s no good reason to get worked up about this. Your partnership with Ezra was only ever a business one, and yet it hurts to see him so closed off. Just a few cycles before he you were telling each other life stories over ration bars.

“The Iplite mines on Calfa were depleted stands ago. You don’t have a damn plan beyond the end of this.”

“For what reasons do you dwell over if I do or do not have a projection of future endeavors?”

You turn to face him, staring into those thoughtful eyes and seeing little more than a shallow glaze. If nothing else, you miss the deepness and emotion usually enveloped within.

“Because I care about you,” you cry out. It’s something you’ve felt but have not known how or when to voice it properly. It’s dangerous for a temporary partnership.

“Do those emotions necessitate verbalization and the expression of concern?” He looks in your direction, now sitting up as well, but you know he’s not really looking at you. You’re familiar with this. Its the look of someone who does not want to confront the storm within their mind.

“Holding everything in doesn’t help, you know.”

“I am not holding things in.” His voice is strained.

You push yourself up to your knees and shuffle onto to his cot, which is pushed flush with your own. You haven’t been this close to him with so little clothing on. Usually when you are face to face, your thighs practically touching, you wear your suits. But now there’s nothing but your ragged sleepwear. You reach out to Ezra, hands wrapping around him and he tenses beneath you. But within seconds he relaxes into your touch.

“I do not want you to leave me,” he whispers into your shoulder.

You swallow. Impending tears are slicing stinging marks into the corners of your eyes as you attempt to remain calm for him.

“Ezra.” And your efforts fail as your voice comes out shaky. “I won’t leave if you don’t want me to. Connection is a difficult thing to find, and even rarer for a drifter. We can search out something, together.”

“The rules of temporary partnership do not permit the extension of an alliance.”

“And when have you been one to care about following the damn rules?”


End file.
